Budget airline’s launch will boost UAE aviation

Competition in the marketplace has always benefited the consumer. Having a choice means that the customer is king, when it comes to making any buying decision; and more competition in the marketplace means competitors have to offer more and raise their standards to be able to survive or thrive.

Those are three essential tenets that underline the relationship between seller and buyer — the reality of business for all. Certainly then, the announcement of the creation of a fifth UAE-based airline is good news indeed, and that Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will be the first to be based out of the UAE capital is welcome. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi is a joint venture between Etihad Aviation Group and Air Arabia, and joins Etihad, Emirates, flydubai and Air Arabia in the ranks of UAE-based airlines flying the skies and proudly carrying the nation’s colours.

It’s the first budget airline to be based out of the capital and as such brings a new competition edge to the marketplace there, one that ensures that air travellers have choice and a range of budget options open to then when they go to purchase air tickets.

Certainly, the Air Arabia Abu Dhabi airline now opens up the capital and its attractions to more tourists, generating more revenues and adding to the overall growth and prosperity of the capital and the country.

Make no mistake, the airline industry and all of its ancillary activities, investments, people and facilities, are extremely significant in the overall economic portfolio of the UAE. In Dubai alone, analysts estimate that one dirham out of every three in circulation in the emirate’s economy is tied to the aviation sector, with a slightly less but similar significance also applying in Abu Dhabi. The creation of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi only adds to that importance.

As part of the diversification process underway in the UAE’s national economy, tourism and travel is a cornerstone for bring more people to the nation, more tourists to see our attractions, more footfall to our hotels, more spending to our malls. In that context alone, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi builds on that vision, allowing more to travel to the capital at a lower price. Over the past three decades in particular, the UAE has garnered an unrivalled reputation for its bold and fresh approach to air travel, revolutionising passenger comfort, making the world smaller and physically more connected. Certainly, the advent of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi adds to the UAE’s already impressive reputation.

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